Best Web Hosting UK - Top 10 review 2012
These UK based top web hosting sites have been independently reviewed using a system of important indicators to give you the best possible guide to price, reliability, features, customer support and percentage uptime. Heres the best web hosting UK for 2011.
Detailed Top UK Web hosting reviews
98%
1.Hostpapa
Hostpapa web hosting has taken the initiative to become a 100% green UK host with all its servers and facilities being powered by renewables, which supplements an already great value and reliable hosting package. Further to being environmentally friendly they also possess a great customer service record and feature rich easy to use control panel which easily makes it the best web hosting package for 2011.
| Price inc VAT | £2.34 | Features | PHP, MySql, Free Domain for life, |
| Bandwidth/Space | Unlimited/Unlimited | Green Hosting, Wordpress blog, | |
| 30 Day Moneyback, Free Website Builder | |||
| £250 Free Extras | |||
96%
2.iPage hosting
iPage is another top web host that has joined the green revolution and is powered by 100% wind energy. It been established since 1998, providing top quality web hosting service for small and medium sized websites at low cost. iPage would be a good entry level for any newbie webmaster or designer.
| Price inc VAT | £2.38 | Features | PHP, MySql, Free Domain, |
| Bandwidth/Space | Unlimited/Unlimited | Green Hosting, Wordpress, |
93%
3.Fatcow
FatCow is probably the most established Green Web Hosting company around, suitable as a small UK business host and for personal sites alike. Inlcuded are some great features like One Click Installation of popular cms scripts (Wordpress, Joomla, etc….) which helps to avoid changing databases and code. . This web hosting company has managed to survive in a very competitive industry since 1998, so they have made the right choices in pleasing cleints with an ethos of unique web hosting based on high uptime, ease of use at an afforable rate.
| Price inc VAT | £2.50 | Features | PHP, MySql, Free Domain, |
| Bandwidth/Space | Unlimited/Unlimited | Green Hosting, Money Back Guarantee | |
94%
4.JustHost.com
JustHost is one of the premier and best UK web hosting provider, highly regarded not just because of their superb uptime but also because of its ease of use, fantastic range of unrivelled features and great UK customer service. It really is the most comprehensive package for hosting novices and experts with easy script installs of some of the most popular cms and blog systems such as Joomla, Wordpress and Drupal. All this combined with an incredibly low price and moneyback guarantee makes them one of the best UK web hosting packages. However the only drawback is the very lengthly contracts of 48months to get the best cheapest hosting deal.
| Price inc VAT | £4.13 | Features | PHP, MySql, Free Domain for life |
| Bandwidth/Space | Unlimited/Unlimited | Wordpress blog, Anytime Moneyback |
92%
5.Supergreen hosting
Increasingly it has become a key part of business to be eco aware and initiate green campaigns to gain consumer confidence. This usually comes at a premium but with supergreen hosts it is not only green but financially beneficial. Their servers are powered by renewables and their tree planting scheme ensures they remain carbon neutral. Available now with completely unlimited space make it one the best web hosting packages.
| Price inc VAT | £4.13 | Features | PHP, MySql, Free Domain, |
| Bandwidth/Space | Unlimited/Unlimited | Green Hosting, Wordpress, | |
90%
6.1and1
1and1 web hosting is the largest and most established web hosts in the U.K. so consequently it scores high in most of the criteria. Especially now with the recent addition of there pioneering dual hosting, its uptime reliability is now very strong. This is coupled with an easy to use interface and a vast array of features which matches all of the top UK performers.
| Price inc VAT | £2.99 | Features | PHP, MySql, Free Domain, Dual Hosting, |
| Bandwidth/Space | Unlimited/5GB | Mobile Site, |
86%
7.Godaddy
Go Daddy is a strong competitor in the website hosting industry, especially because of the reputation it has managed to build over decade since its foundation. The setup process is very straightforward, and this website hosting service has an option for all levels of control, from novice to expert. The the lack of space hinders it somewhat, with 10GB being enough for a small business but with no extra room for expansion. Also even on the unlimted packages email account storage is limted.
| Price inc VAT | £2.24 | Features | PHP, MySql, |
| Bandwidth/Space | Unlimited/10GB |
84%
8.Heart
Heart Internet web hosting is a Uk based web hosting company which prides itself on the best customer service and ease of use. The control panel is very easy to use and setup which is very helpful for first time users but also contains some advanced features for greater flexibility. Additionally their customer support is very prompt and simple to initaite via a ticketing system available 24/7. But for however reliable and easy to use the web hosting is there are many aresa in which it falls down including the restriction of only 1 website, no wordpress or database support and the mailbox size limit.
| Price inc VAT | £2.99 | Features | PHP, 30-Day Money-Back Guarantee |
| Bandwidth/Space | 30GB/5GB |
82%
9.Uk 2
UK2.net is another Uk based web hosting company offering 1-Click-installs, so you can instantly install many of the leading blog packages such as, Wordpress, B2Evolution, pMachine and Nucleus blogging software. The list of features is impressive but it is the price that lets it down.
| Price inc VAT | £4.75 | Features | PHP, MySql, Free Domain, |
| Bandwidth/Space | Unlimited/Unlimited | Wordpress Hosting |
79%
10.Web fusion
Web fusion hosting operates from data centres located in the UK's major cities and operates 24/4 support.
| Price inc VAT | £5.99 | Features | PHP, MySql, Free Domain, |
| Bandwidth/Space | Unlimited/Unlimited |
Web hosting terms explained
what is web hosting?
Hosting is the space made available on the internet for your site to run. If you are familiar with your computer hard drive then hosting can be easily explained as a remote version of your hard drive available online and accessible anywhere. Thus this space can be filled with lots of different media such as images, video and documents and attached to domain names in order to run a website. Hosting companies run data centres located all over the world which store various websites however although international hosts are available, it is best to purchase with a local U.K. host as speeds will be much greater.
what is a domain name?
A domain name is your online address and identity. They can be purchased seperately from hosting and be attatched to different hosting packages in order for you to build a website. The best web hosting packages also offer a free domain or a free domain for life such as just host.
what is shared web hosting?
Shared hosting is the cheapest form of hosting and would be the best web hosting for anyone looking to run a small site, portfolio, personal blog or hobby site. There are many good shared hosts out there such as Justhosts and Hostpapa which offer good value hosting with lots of features perfect for rich modern websites. However they do have performance limitations even those which sold as unlimited. So if you are looking to make money from your website, host lots of media(images+video) or are starting a medium-large e-commerce store then the best option for you would be either dedicated servers or VPS(Virtual Private Hosting).
what is VPS web hosting?
Vps hosting is basically a mid range level of web hosting for people who are not ready to fully utilise a dedicated server but need the greater speed, flexibility and speed of a dedicated host. It would suit you if you receive more than 500 visits a day, host a medium sized e-commerce store or are looking to host lots of media such as video and images.
what is dedicated server web hosting?
A dedicated server is the most powerful host option as it gives you full use of a "dedicated server" as apposed a shared package where up to 50 accounts can be stored. It would suit you if you receive more than 1000 visits a day, host larger e-commerce store or are looking to host lots of media such as video and images. This is also scalable to to be able to host the largest or large sites without any lagging or loading problems.
what is unlimited hosting space?
Many hosting companies offer unlimited space with their packages so you can theoretically upload as many pages, images and videos as you want. However as with many other unlimited usage plans in other markets it is subject to fair usage. Consequently if you know that you will be needing greater resources than a small personal or business site then the best hosting for you would be dedicated servers or VPS(Virtual Private Hosting).
what is Bandwidth? How much bandwidth do I need ?
Bandwidth is how much data on your website is being used and downloaded on a day to day basis. So if your site was rich in media and video then you would tend to use a higher bandwidth than say a text based page. It is also based on your number of visitors per day as the more people using your website, the greater bandwidth is being taken up.
For a smaller site with less than 100 visitors a day a shared hosting packages such as Justhosts and Hostpapa would have more than enough bandwidth. If you host a medium-large e-commerce site, have more than 100 visitors or will be uploading large amounts of images and video then the top web hosting solution for you would be VPS or dedicated servers.